Forbidden Fruit
by Anne Vermillion
Summary: Mulder stumbles onto an audio book read by someone familiar.


Forbidden Fruit  
  
Mulder stumbles onto Scully's voice on an audio book, and when he confronts her about it, they realize they have some feelings to sort out.  
  
Author's Note: As you may know, Gillian Anderson read the audio version to Anne Rice's "Exit to Eden", which, by the way, is like the movie in name only. I'm not the biggest Anne Rice fan, but I bought it to hear GA's reading. WOW! She has an incredible voice, and the book is about two hours of her talking dirty. I read the book later, and loved it. If you decide to pick it up, keep in mind that it contains adult sexual themes.  
  
This story was written in response to a fanfic challenge, posing the situation of Mulder stumbling onto the recording as read by Scully and how he would react to it. It is pure fluff, and contains hints of MSR (Mulder/Scully romance). This story is a prequel to "Extremis Possibilities".  
  
One last thing, the quotes from "Exit to Eden" are property of Anne Rice. No infringement is intended.  
  
There is a sequel to this, but it's too naughty for ff.net. I may post it elsewhere, but I'm not sure where. Please read and review!  
  
******  
Mulder blinked sleepily at the television, only half watching the writhing bodies on the screen as they grunted and sweated their way to the inevitable climax. He thumbed the "stop" button, halting the progress with a sigh. After nearly three years of celibacy, the novelty of porn had long since worn thin, useful only in desperation. He turned off the television and tossed the remote on the battered coffee table, and his gaze alighted on two cassettes gleaming newly in the dim lamplight. He scooped them up, squinting at the title for the second time that day.  
  
*Exit to Eden*. He forgot where he had heard it, but someone had said that this book was steamy, and that the movie really didn't do it justice. He hadn't seen the movie, but he had bought the tapes in a fit of curiosity. After some searching, he found his walkman, smiling as he thought of how many ransackings the device had survived. He eased his sweat pants off and slid between the sheets of his bed, stretching languidly before slipping the first tape into the player. He placed the featherweight headphones on his ears and pushed "play"; maybe it would help him sleep. After listening to the intro he was already nearly drowsing.  
  
*"My name is Lisa."*  
  
Mulder's eyes snapped open, all thoughts of sleep banished by the silky sensuality of her voice. He had heard this voice before, but never in the breathy, intimate whisper that spoke to him now. The voice he knew spoke with conviction, had berated him more than once, and contradicted him more times than he could count. He fumbled for the cassette case and scrutinized the credits.  
  
*"I wear leather a great deal, high boots always..."*  
  
*Exit to Eden by Anne Rice*  
  
*read by Dana Scully*  
  
*"And I wear lace, especially if I can find the kind I like..."*  
  
She continued to speak, her voice soft, smooth, washing over him like a warm summer rain.  
  
*"At the Club they call me The Perfectionist."*  
  
He laid the cassette case down and leaned back, closing his eyes as her voice relaxed him into a story of searching, uncertainty, sex, finding, love, sex....he pictured her, her blue eyes half-closed, her lips brushing against his ear as she whispered to him. He imagined himself as Elliott Slater, searching for his truth, his desires, finding them unexpectedly in Lisa. He smiled; in a bizarre way, Elliott's search was similar to his own; searching for sanity and closure in an insane and endless world. Scully had brought his search into perspective, gave him focus instead of the aimless wandering he'd been doing before. He wondered if she could ever fall for him as Lisa had for Elliott, as he had for Scully...her voice dropped half an octave into a sultry growl, and his hand slipped under the sheets to cup his groin.  
  
It was a long time before Mulder was able to sleep.  
  
She was already at her desk when he stumbled into work the next day, her glasses perched on the end of her nose as she went over a file. *She has no idea how sexy she looks in those*, he thought as he slid into his desk with a groan. "Morning, Scully."  
  
"Morning, Mulder." She glanced up, and her lips curled into a soft smile at his rumpled clothes and tousled hair. "Late night?" He nodded, taking a sip of his coffee with a grimace. Her smile reached her eyes. "What was her name?"  
  
Mulder shot a quick look at his partner in drowsy surprise; usually he was the one who threw the innuendos at her. He smiled at her banter; two could play at that game. "Lisa."  
  
Her eyebrows shot up into her hair, and he saw several emotions telegraph across her face...surprise, embarrassment, and...something else. He went on, continuing the game. "A friend of mine introduced me to her. She runs a resort in the islands somewhere, and she was only home for a little while." He yawned hugely. "I must have listened to her all night." He watched her face turn first pink, then red as her smile faded. "Anyway, it was a very late night."  
  
He expected her to change the subject. What he didn't expect was her standing up, mumbling something about, "Needing some air," and walking out, grabbing her coat on the way. He watched her go, mentally reviewing what he had said. She was used to his kidding after so long; what had set her off? Like a sledgehammer, his sleep-fogged brain finally kicked in, and he had a name for the emotion he had seen on her face.  
  
Hurt. Anger. Jealousy?  
  
Oh, shit.  
  
*****  
  
Dana Scully bit back angry tears as she walked out of the building, heading for a nearby cafe. Several emotions battled within her, and as she walked she tried to sort them out.  
  
*I can't believe he'd...*  
  
*He'd what? He'd actually see another woman? Why should that make you so mad?*  
  
*Because he's supposed to...shit, he's supposed to what? Spend every waking moment waiting for me to call? God, that sounds so high school.* The door jingled as she walked into the cafe. She took a corner table and ordered a hazelnut creme coffee.  
  
*You know, you could always tell him how you feel.*  
  
*Out of the question. We're partners, friends. We could never be--*  
  
*What makes you so sure, Doctor Scully? How do you know he's not thinking the same thing about you?*  
  
*Why should he? Since we've been partners, I've done nothing but contradict him and argue until we're both blue in the face*  
  
*You've also pulled him out of the jaws of death more than once, and he's done the same for you.*  
  
*We're partners. And friends. Both would do that for each other.*  
  
*Ah, but would they do it with such feeling?*  
  
The coffee scalded her tongue. *Enough. I'm happy enough being his partner and friend. I shouldn't be angry at the thought of him with somebody else if I haven't told him...*  
  
"Excuse me." Scully looked up to see the waitress put something on the table. "This arrived for you a minute ago."  
  
"Thanks." She watched the waitress for a moment before looking down at what she'd left.  
She cocked her head to the side at the three objects on the table. A single rose. An envelope. Two cassettes. She looked around for the possible source of this gift. Seeing no one, she slipped a finger under the flap of the envelope and pulled the slip of paper from within.  
  
Dana,  
  
I'd like you to meet Lisa.  
  
Apologies,  
  
Mulder  
  
She frowned in confusion, re-reading the short note. She picked up one of the cassettes and scanned for the label.  
  
*Exit to Eden by Anne Rice*  
  
*Read by Dana Scully*  
  
Her hand flew to her mouth and she felt the heat rise in her face. *Oh my god.*  
  
The jingle of the door made her glance up; Mulder walked in and sat down across from her, laying another rose on the table. She smiled gently; this rose had a white handkerchief tied to it like a flag. "Truce?" he said softly.  
  
She couldn't meet his eyes. "Mulder, I...I'm sorry I reacted the way I did." Her stomach was in knots. "It was inappropriate, and unprofessional."  
  
"Scully, you don't have to apologize. If anyone was unprofessional and inappropriate, it was me." She heard him snort. "As if that was a change."  
  
"Mulder..." She looked up, and suddenly found that she couldn't look away. She saw the emotions churning behind those hazel eyes...contrition, compassion...and something else. Was it...she dared not even think it lest it not be true, but she smiled all the same. His eyes softened at her smile; he understood. She picked up the other cassette, and her smile turned rueful. "Where did you find these?"  
  
"A friend of mine told me the book was good, so I picked it up." He chuckled. "Imagine my surprise."  
  
*Oh, I bet I could*  
  
"What did you think?" She raised an eyebrow as he opened his mouth. "Of the book, Mulder."  
  
"I liked it." He picked up the rose/flag, twisting it between his fingers. "Elliott's search was very symbolic to me; it represents a lot the searching we as humans do, trying to find our identities, and how what we think we want is not necessarily what we'll find."  
  
"Interesting; I never thought of it that way. I did that when I was in college; it paid well, and it was a chance to...I don't know, become someone else for a while." She pondered for a moment. "I guess I had my own searching to do at the time." She looked down at her coffee, now gone cold, and shook herself out of her musings. "We should get back to work." Mulder stood as she signaled the waitress and paid for her coffee. The walk back to the office was in comfortable silence, each with their minds on their respective searches.  
  
Scully put the roses in an iced tea bottle filled from the water fountain and put her purse in the bottom drawer. "I have to go to the lab and start on those autopsies." She could feel Mulder's eyes on her as she gathered up her things, knowing that he couldn't hold back his wit for much longer. Now that the tension had been resolved, it couldn't be long now...  
  
"Hey Scully, will you call me up and read to me tonight? Now that I've met Lisa, I don't know how long I can go without her."  
  
Without missing a beat, she walked up to him, leaning over to whisper in his ear, invading his space as he had done so many times before. "Be careful what you wish for, Mulder." She hadn't lost her sultry voice, her "phone sex" voice, someone had once told her. She drew back and gave him a catlike smile, wishing she had a camera to capture the expression on his face.  
  
She held back her laughter until she was in the elevator. 


End file.
